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Report says that the Marine One helicopter crew did not reach air traffic control in time to prevent a safety incident.

The National Transportation Safety Board reported on Thursday that the crew of a helicopter carrying President Donald Trump, which came too close to an aircraft on August 4, failed to contact air traffic controllers prior to departing.

The incident with a plane leaving Reagan Washington National Airport has raised questions as to why the passenger aircraft was allowed to leave while Marine One was near, at a time that commercial traffic would normally be halted.

NTSB said that the Marine One crew tried at least two times to give controllers the required three-minute notice of departure, but was hampered by communication issues. The NTSB stated that the crew tried to contact controllers via the helicopter facility of Joint Base Anacostia - Bolling, but was unsuccessful.

Bryan Bedford, the director of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said on Tuesday that the agency had relocated a?antenna after the incident and altered a procedure. The NTSB stated that checks done after the relocation showed no communication issues.

The NTSB revealed that there were also other communication problems. The NTSB reported that on July 30, Marine One staff and air traffic controllers met to "discuss concerns with recent reports about their inability to receive the required 3-minute liftoff call."

NTSB: The Marine One crew reported that communications were "spotty".

FAA regulations require aircraft to be separated at least by 1.5 miles (2.4km) horizontally and 500 feet (152m) vertically when they are near airports. Marine One and plane were separated at one time by 0.82 nautical miles laterally, and 700 feet up vertically.

Envoy Air 3742 was an Embraer E170 Regional Jet bound for Pensacola in Florida. Republic 4700 was also 3 miles from Reagan at the time of the incident and was diverted out of caution.

After a mid-air collision in January 2025 between an American Airlines regional plane and an Army helicopter, the?FAA placed permanent restrictions on helicopter operation around Washington's Reagan Airport. (Reporting and editing by Lisa Shumaker; reporting by David Shepardson)

(source: Reuters)